HOW DO YOU CUT YOUR SANDWICH FRIDAY FOOD DEBATE

It's time for the "Friday Food Debate" where we tackle some of the burning questions of the culinary world...you know, like we had a few weeks back with the "dark meat/white meat" debate and last Friday the french fries and ketchup debate, ha.

This week, the burning question is:

How do you cut your sandwich

Yep, apparently there are three schools of thought on sandwiches (and people are adamant about this from what I see online).  They all involve the question of cutting your sandwich?

Do you just dive right in, whole, as is?

Do you make a nice cut down the middle to divide into two rectangles?

Do you cut on the diagonal to make two triangles?

As for us here, I rarely cut my sandwiches.  2nd Man loves to to cut his and when he does, he's a diagonal cutter.  I will admit that if he asks me do I want him to cut my sandwich and I say yes, I do like the diagonal cut. It somehow makes the sandwich seem bigger.  Maybe it's that it's more visually appealing?

STUMP PLANTER INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm. Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and someday, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!



We have two stumps on the property and we really like this idea.  Hollow out the top a bit, put some soil in and some flowers, plant a few around the base and done.  Of course after a year or two of flowers in the stump with the soil and watering etc, I'm sure the stump would start to rot away.  

But for a period of time, an eyesore would become something pretty and eye-catching.  

Be inspired!

DEER VS FRUIT TREES

Well, this wasn't unexpected...we only had a few pieces of fruit on the trees.  Since we're still letting them develop strong root systems, we plucked most of the buds earlier in the Spring.

But one weekend they were there and this weekend they were gone.  Of course this could have been birds, though there were no half eaten pieces on the ground.  They were just gone.  Completely missing from the trees and the yard.

The plum tree (one of them) had about 8 or 9 plums on it a few weekends ago...

...now it has zero.

This is the mystery peach tree (possibly nectarine).  It had four pieces of fruit on it...

...and now zero on it.  However, we did manage to snag one to try out last week, thank goodness.  More on that in an upcoming post.

Now the citrus doesn't seem to be bothered at all.  Not sure if deer like it or what.  This is the orange tree and both the lemon and lime have small fruits on them as well.

Gotta figure out a good solution before next Spring.  Thinking of some tall posts at each corner of each bed and then just putting deer netting around it with zip-ties.  With tall posts, we could toss bird netting over the tops if we needed too.  

Thoughts?

WEEKEND IN REVIEW

Wow it is hot this weekend.  94 degrees with a feels like of 101.  Ugh.

I didn't mow, it was a bit too wet from Thursday and Friday rains but it hadn't grown that much. I checked the stuff drying in the barn. This is the garlic and it's drying up nicely. After I took this picture I decided to spread them a bit further apart and put up some more nails in the rafters to spread them out.

Of course I couldn't help myself, I had to steal one to bring back into town so we could cook with it.  Still a bit moist around the paper husk but drying well. 

The wheat is also drying well.  This is just one stack of three.  Not sure what we'll do with all of it but it'll be fun to figure out.

I was taking a break and noticed a weed growing up between the porch floor boards.  I guess that's why weeds have been around forever.  They find a way.

Have had several little green frogs hanging around on the porch the last few weeks.  This one was on some cardboard that was on the porch.  As frogs go, they are pretty cute.

Today, we are just staying inside where it's cool.  And doing like Hobart.  Just resting.  

And/or possibly napping.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

FRIES AND KETCHUP, FRIDAY FOOD DEBATE

Going to try something different on Fridays and tackle some of the "great food debates" in the culinary world.  You know, like we had a few weeks back with the "dark meat/white meat" debate, ha.

This week, the burning question is:

Yes, there are two kinds of people in the world.  Those who put their ketchup on the side of the fries (that would be 2nd Man) and those who drizzle it all over (that would be me, 1st Man).  

We never knew that was a thing but apparently it is a source of great debate among foodies.  At first we thought it might be a generational thing but since he and I both do it differently, and we're only 3 years apart in age, that's not it.  

So, what about you...ON THE SIDE or DRIZZLE?

GARDEN SINK INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm. Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and someday, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!



I've been contemplating projects in the garden.  One of them is to put in a sink of some sort for just rinsing of veggies or washing hands or tools or whatever.  Of course, who wants just a plain old sink and faucet.  This was made using a galvanized bucket and some galvanized pipe with what looks like some garden hose watering attachments for a faucet. 

It looks like this was run up through a wooden table and the bucket may even have a drain in the bottom.  Need to do some more research but seeing as how a large surface of some sort is one of the things I'm going to do in the Fall for the garden area (a sort of potting table) this could work.  It looks neat.

Be inspired!
  

GARLIC HARVEST 2019

Vampires beware...it was time for...

Raised bed garlic harvest

...the Great Garlic Harvest of 2019, ha.  I figured I better get them out of the ground before the monsoon rains and because they were turning brown.  The general rule of thumb that we've read about (and what I did last year) was as soon as the lower 1/3 or so of leaves were brown and dry, it's time to harvest. 

I don't pull them up of course, that could damage the bulbs.  It's easier to take a small shovel (or your hands) loosen the soil around each head and then gently lift them out of the ground.  

Since garlic can sunburn, I put the cart in the shade as I harvested them. 

Rubbermaid cart with garlic harvest

Once I filled up the trusty Rubbermaid garden cart with the harvest, I headed to the workshop.  I opened the doors and back window and there was actually a nice breeze blowing through (this was two Saturday's ago, not a couple days ago when it was mid-90's, ha).  

Twine and scissors

I sorted them and got the twine out and bundled them all up.

Garlic drying

We had left the nails up from last year's harvest and so I just put them right back up in the same spot as last time.  Why mess with a good thing?  We should only have to let them cure for a couple more weeks.

You have to wait until all the green has turned brown.  It would be fun to braid them but I need to read up on that.  It might be easier to just sort the heads and keep them in storage, especially since we have so many and will be giving some away.

HOT WEATHER PURPLE FLOWERS AND NEW ROADS

Well, blogger was having issues Sunday so I couldn't get this posted then.  Instead, I'll use this post for today as an update on the weekend. 

It was a good weekend, but hot.  We had a high of 94, almost broke a record.  Ugh it's going to be a long hot summer for sure.

Who says we don't have color at the farm!  OK so maybe it's only green and purple but hey, we'll take it, ha. This is the Texas Lilac (actual name Vitex) in full bloom.  The bees and butterflies were LOVING it.

These do SO well for us, we just might plant a lot more of them.  They thrive in our soil, are drought tolerant (we never water them) and they bloom from Spring to the first freeze.  Kind of a win win.

The original plan was to skip mowing this weekend as it didn't really need it. It's the time of year when I can do every other week but weather changes are coming (more on that further down) so I decided to go ahead a mow. It went a bit faster since it was shorter and so I shaved about 15 minutes off my average time, ha.

When we drove in, we saw this sign.  Wasn't sure what it meant until we got to our road...

It's been graded and coated with oil for the asphalt that we're assuming is coming next.  It'll be nice to have a smooth "new" road in front of the property.  Our tax dollars at work.

And now this is why I decided to go ahead and mow.  There is a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico and while it is NOT heading this direction, it will make landfall somewhere along Texas/Mexico border and pull a lot of moisture from the Gulf and spin it this direction.  Forecast (as of now anyway) is for several inches of rain Wednesday and Thursday.  If we do get that much it will mean the ground will probably be too wet Saturday.  

Of course if it doesn't end up doing that, well then I can skip mowing THIS weekend, ha. 

Check back tomorrow for a post on the other gardening thing that I did last weekend.

DRAGONFRUIT TASTE TEST

We're not growing these (though maybe I should check and see if they do well here, ha).  This is a dragonfruit.  Something neither of us has ever had before.  We have heard of them forever just never thought to buy one (they aren't cheap either).

First of all, um yeah, it looks like something from a sci-fi fi movie.  Dragon-like of course, because of the color, the spines...we might have called it alienfruit because, well, that's how we are.  The color is crazy, it's a brilliant bright pinkish red, with of course the green and yellow things on there.  They aren't pointy sharp, they are just kind of like flat leaves.

But upon cutting it open, the outside belies the interior.  WOW.  It's bright white with tiny black seeds (edible, like a kiwi) and the flesh is soft with an almost creamy texture.  So what is the taste?  Honestly, it was a bit boring.  Funny though one half was not very sweet and the other half was a little sweeter.  Still though, it was a bit like eating a kiwi fruit that was not sweet or maybe a bland pear.

For all the exotic appearance both inside and out, we were expecting more excitement with the taste buds...but it was really just a big meh...  

What about you?  Anyone had one before?

Thoughts?

WASH TUB PLANTER INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm. Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and someday, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!

Wash tub flower planter

Another one of these cool old washtubs (we think that's what it's called?) filled with flowers.  So pretty and looks like it belongs in the country.  I'm guessing the advantage too is that there is a built in drain hole in the bottom.  My Grandmother did something like this a few times that I remember and it was just as pretty as this one.  I seem to recall that hers has red and yellow flowers in it...

Be inspired!